


Heaven on Earth

by fabulousweirdo



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Domestic Fluff, Epilogue, Family Fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Fluffy Ending, Happy Ending, Harley Keener is a Good Brother, I Made Myself Cry, One Big Happy Family, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker is a Little Shit, Post-Canon, Slice of Life, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark is Good With Kids, Tony Stark-centric, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-10
Updated: 2019-05-10
Packaged: 2020-02-10 17:35:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18665137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fabulousweirdo/pseuds/fabulousweirdo
Summary: *An Epilogue to 'Avengers: EndGame'*Tony Stark wakes up in his bed to a rambunctious four-year-old promising chocolate chip pancakes and board games with Pepper, Harley, and Peter, and herself if he gets up.But Tony Stark swears he snapped his fingers and saved the universe once and for all. What is this new reality he's woken up in?*Not an Alternate Ending*





	Heaven on Earth

Tony closed his eyes to a world that has been restored by the snap. _His_ snap. He gave his life for the life of the rest of the universe. Maybe he could have passed the stones off to one of his friends with that magical healing factor of theirs. Maybe he could have just taken the stones and used his repulsors to kill Thanos. Maybe Marvel could have destroyed their energy source like in the Battle of New York so they could gain the upperhand another way. It was probably foolish, but he doesn’t care. His family is safe and together. Finally. He might not be there to see it, but he’s certain that everything will be alright. He can die in peace now.

\-----

Tony opens his eyes to Morgan sitting on his chest with the biggest grin on her face. “Daddy, daddy, they’re here! Come on!”

He hesitates. “Who?” How did he get here?

“Don’t worry, bug. He’s just being silly.” Tony turns to his right and sees Pepper sitting up and smiling at their daughter. “Did you let them in?” she continues. Morgan nods and rolls over until she’s sitting between them.

What is going on?

“They’re in their room,” Morgan rambles, “and Harley said he would put extra chocolate chips in my pancakes if I could get you two downstairs for breakfast.”

“I thought Peter always made you pancakes.”

Peter?

Tony’s head swivels to Pepper as she pulls Morgan up and out of bed. Did she just say Peter? And Harley?

“Peter’s going to find a board game,” Morgan says, “and Harley’s not allowed in the game cabinet, remember?”

Pepper sighs playfully. “You’re right. I’m sorry I doubted you.” Morgan giggles and jumps out of her arms. “Tony, are you ready for breakfast?” Pepper asks.

On instinct, Tony gets out of bed and pulls the covers back to remake it. It’s like muscle memory, yet he never gets out of bed like this. Tony’s lucky if he gets out after a five minute warning. But it felt like second nature to get out so swiftly.

‘Of course I’d get out of bed so quickly,’ Tony hears himself think. ‘Peter’s pancakes are the best.’

But Tony’s never eaten pancakes made by Peter Parker before. Has he?

Once he questions himself, he’s enlightened by a memory of Peter plating a mountain of pancakes for the family to share. Himself, Pepper, Morgan, Harley, and Peter. Rhodey surprising them by knocking on the door and demanding pancakes of his own since he flew all this way. The sound of whipped cream and syrup being passed around and taken before all the sugar rots their teeth. Harley teaching Morgan how to balance a spoon on her nose while the rest of the silverware is abandoned so everyone can watch. Rhodey cheering when Pepper gets it on her first try and Morgan laughing when Tony gets syrup on _his_ nose. Tony cleans the dishes and gets swatted by a dish towel when he yet again soaks the window in suds.

The memory isn’t anything Tony remembers, but it’s so familiar and warm. He doesn’t let it go.

“Tony?” Pepper says again. “Still tired?”

Said man blinks and smiles at Pepper, making the effort not to question it. “Don’t worry, I was just thinking about the pancakes.” He clears his throat and looks down at the made bed. “I’ll meet you down there. I just need to head to the restroom first.”

“Well, hurry,” Pepper teases, leading Morgan to the door, “or we’ll eat them all without you.” Tony laughs, but he knows for a fact that they’ll all save him some. He just does. Pepper and Morgan head downstairs while Tony enters the master bathroom and faces the mirror. He starts wonder what’s different.

His complexion is different. Didn’t he have more grey hairs? More wrinkles and frown lines? There was always that one patch on jawline that he worries would become a bald spot if he didn’t care for it, but it isn’t there anymore. Instead, he’s a man looking back with a fresh smile and a morning glow. Wrinkles and grey hairs intact, but they all appeared through time, not stress. Hours ticking by as Morgan falls asleep in his lap reading a picture book together. And while Pepper cuddles with him by the television, watching a romcom they both hate but keep watching anyway. And as Peter and Harley give them traffic updates while Happy drives the two of them to the lake house every other weekend.

Tony sighs. A confused sigh? A happy sigh. He’s lived a good life here, even if he doesn’t remember all of it. These moments...happened. These tangible memories implanted in his head came from somewhere, he knows, but when?

Is this a different timeline? Have the Avengers created a new reality using the stones? Was he placed into a different reality entirely? If so, where are these new memories coming from? Did their quest to restore the stones fail and create an alternate timeline? If so, why does he have memories of the original timeline?

But he’s happy. Tony’s happy, whichever Tony that might be. It’s like a dream. All of the people he cares about are here. They’re all safe and happy; no strong feuds, like they’re enjoying each other’s time together as they were meant to. This seems...perfect. Or at least Tony’s idea of perfect.

What if this is some sort of reuse? Nothing can be this perfect. “FRIDAY?” he asks, tentatively, “Can you pull up world news from the last few weeks?”

The mirror becomes crowded with images from top news articles FRIDAY picked out. The news is gushing over some water preservation tech-thing provided by the Guardians of the Galaxy. Bruce Banner has apparently teamed up with a council of aliens and they’re working to restore the world’s ecosystem and end global warming. And the latest story is about an abundance of resources delivered by Captain Marvel that will help end world hunger.

What universe did Tony wake up in?

“Sir,” FRIDAY calls out, “Pepper would like me to inform you that the pancakes are almost ready.”

Tony swipes the news articles from his vision. “Thank you, FRIDAY.”

“And Harley would like me to inform you that if you don’t get downstairs soon, he’ll teach Morgan bad words,” she finishes.

“Not again,” Tony sighs, but he doesn’t know where those words came from. “I don’t remember Harley teaching Morgan any curse words.”

“He has on only one occasion, Sir.” The disembodied voice pauses to wait for Tony to show some sign of recognition, but continues when he doesn’t say anything. “Two months ago, he spilled hot pancake batter onto his jeans and taught Morgan the word S-H-I-T.”

Didn’t Tony teach her that word? But he also distinctly remembers Pepper pulling Morgan out of the room to go play with Peter while Tony had to calm down Harley before he started tearing up because he was so sorry. The poor boy didn’t mean to say it in front of Morgan, and thought Tony and Pepper were going to yell at him. Morgan was going to learn the word sometime in the future, from Tony probably, but Harley still apologized and gave Morgan a talk about how that word shouldn’t be used. That alone almost made Tony tear up himself after Morgan told him that “kind words mean kind answers”.

Tony smiles fondly at the memory before FRIDAY once again reminds him of the pancakes, and he makes his way downstairs. What greets him is a larger dining table than he remembers. Ten chairs in total, ready for any guests, and collapsible sides to accommodate the dinners for three on weeknights. It’s the table Tony always wanted. A dream come true. The most amazing part of the table, however, is the people sitting around it.

Harley sits beside Peter, already cutting up his first pancake, but he looks away in favor of motioning for Tony to sit next to him. Tony shakes his head good-naturedly as he remembers how Harley likes to be reckless with the syrup bottle. Pepper is sitting next to Morgan and has chosen to cut up the girl’s pancakes too while the four-year-old keeps her attention on her napkin.

“Now be really careful before you flip it over, okay?” Peter instructs. He is holding a carefully folded napkin while Morgan mimics it from across the table. “Place a hand underneath and on top so it doesn’t unfold.”

Morgan does as told and flips the napkin over. Peter smiles and continues the little tutorial. “Pinch the bottom and fold it up so the bunny has a little tail. Like this, see?”

Tony sits down beside Morgan and observes her hard work. The napkin is only a little paper napkin, nothing like the fancy cotton ones at dinner parties, but her lines are pretty clean for what he assumes is her first try. Peter’s folds are much more precise. He must have done this many times before.

Morgan folds the bottom over and waits until Peter grips his gently and stands it up. “You see the little triangle folds on the back?”

“Yeah,” she nods. “Do I have them too?”

Peter nods. “The bunny needs to stand up so we’re going to tuck this corner of the triangle,” he points to said corner, “inside the other triangle, okay? Then it’ll stand up.” He demonstrates the move, being meticulous as not to ruin his work, then Morgan does it herself. She doesn’t push it in far enough, though, and it almost falls flat. “Here, let me help you.”

As Peter stands up and walks to their side of the table, Tony catches Pepper’s expression of complete fondness. Harley examines the scene with a smile as he takes bites of his food, which reminds Tony to take some for himself.

A plate has been put out in front his seat already, so he pulls the stack of pancakes in his direction. As promised, they’re filled with chocolate chips and steaming from the lingering heat of the griddle. Tony almost drools from the _heavenly_ smell of these beautiful pancakes. He doesn’t hesitate to plop four onto his plate.

“And then you just pull the ears back, and there’s a little bunny.” Morgan giggles as she finishes her bunny and holds it out for Peter to see. Peter, being the perfect older brother figure, pushes his own version aside and marvels at Morgan’s. “Wow, that’s perfect! You’re so good at this.”

“It is,” Tony adds. “A masterpiece. You should make more and give them to museums. They’re sure to put them on display for everyone to see.”

Morgan responds with a toothy grin and turns to her other side to get the same response from her mother.

“Magnificent,” Pepper whispers,” but you know what’s also magnificent? These pancakes. Dig in.”

The napkin is left in the center to bask in its bunny glory while everyone else joins Harley in the pancakes. Morgan eats two and a half. Harley has four. Pepper has three, but only because eating Morgan’s other half doesn’t count, and Tony has five. Peter ends it off with a marvelous nine pancakes. It was more of a silent eating endeavor until Pepper asks Harley and Peter how their studies at MIT are going. Harley goes off on a tangent about this little project he’s found time to do on the side. Pepper smiles and nods, grasping a majority of his science-related speech. Morgan just listens while scooping up the stray chocolate from her plate, and Peter has zoned out altogether, probably having heard this story a few times already. He seems to be contemplating another pancake instead. Tony takes this time to examine the boy.

After The Snap, Harley didn’t disappear, and Tony had the pleasure of watching the boy grow up. He got into MIT just like he has in this world, working on a degree in Robotics, naturally. But Peter was lost after The Snap. If anyone knew that, it was Tony. He watched him turn to dust in his arms, and although it’s pretty jarring, Tony’s ecstatic to see Peter alive and well without the trauma of it. But if The Snap never happened in this timeline or alternate dimension or parallel universe, why is Peter still young?

Of course Peter could have just aged without growing taller or his voice dropping any lower, but there is not one physical attribute that has changed. Tony agonized over his death for so long, taking years to stop looking at those god awful pictures of Peter smiling like he wasn’t going to leave in a few months. Tony knows exactly what Peter looked like, and there is not a hair out of place on his head. No new haircut. No new freckles or tan lines. He’s the same Peter.

“Peter, did you set up a game in the other room?” Pepper interrupts his detective work by standing and gathering plates. Peter nods and takes the last bites of the pancake that he had been contemplating then helps her gather everything from the tabletop. Tony notices Harley wrapping up the spare pancakes that weren’t eaten and taking them to the fridge. “What did you decide on?”

Peter takes the plates from her arms and easily balances them on one hand. “Monopoly.”

“Oh,” Morgan chimes in, “can I be the post-it note?”

Tony doesn’t recall monopoly pieces ever including post-it notes, but as Morgan swings her legs underneath the table, he does recall a single memory.

They were all about to play a game of Avengers Monopoly which Rhodey had given as a gag gift the Christmas after the Battle of New York. Harley always took Cap’s shield while Peter played with Thor’s Mjolnir. Pepper took Natasha’s Widow, Tony liked using Hawkeye’s little bow-and-arrow piece, and Morgan liked to fistbump people with the Hulk fist. Rhodey was coming over that day and would receive the sacred Iron Man gauntlet, but when Harley and Morgan came back from the game room with a broken Monopoly box and wet eyes, Morgan started blubbering about how Harley somehow broke the box in two and Morgan couldn’t find the last piece. Tony decided that the best way to fix this would be to fold a post-it note, draw a little repulsor on it, and ban Harley from going into the game cabinet. Rhodey was amused and referred to his replacement piece only as the post-it note the entire game and the rest was history.

“Sure,” Tony says. “I’ll be Hawkeye.”

Tony migrates to the kitchen with Peter. The boy places the dishes in the sink and asks if Tony wants help. Like always, Tony rejects the offer and shoos him away so he can be a good husband in peace. “And take Harley with you so he doesn’t get into trouble.” Peter chuckles and leaves him to clean up.

While he washes plates, Tony takes even more time to wonder. Where is he? How did he get here? Why is Peter so young? Didn’t he die? Where are these memories coming from?

If The Snap never happened, then Tony wouldn’t have bought this house, right? It’s the same house. The probability of this house even being for sale would be slim to none since Tony bought it from a family that lost their kids to The Snap. The only differences that Tony can find are the dining table, the boys’ room that Peter and Harley have, and the game room.

Tony’s never had a game room here. He considered one when they moved, but it didn’t feel right at the time. But he’s always wanted one. Maybe he should check it out. So he does.

Tony finishes the dishes and finds the elusive game room. It’s just a basement room with warm lighting, ample floor space, and comfy chairs scattered around. Childrens’ toys take up one corner of the room while another corner is reserved for the Stark Family DVD Collection beside a large TV on the wall. Finally, Tony sees a closet door which he can categorize as the “game cabinet”. That must be where Monopoly’s kept. Tony looks around and sighs with both awe and satisfaction. It’s perfect. Everything he imagined it to be.

When they got the house, the old residents told him that a basement so close to a lake would lead to water damage in the future, so they never had one, but this place is nice and cozy. A perfect little spot to wind down and watch movies until the kids fall asleep. (The billionaire has many recollections of said movie marathons and can confirm that they were all perfect too.) The room is what Tony always dreamed it would be. Like a small, homely slice of heaven.

Heaven.

Tony’s breath catches in his throat. That’s it.

He has to step back for a moment when he realizes what is really going on. He’s not in a different dimension or alternate universe. He’s right on planet Earth. Tony’s perfect vision of his most perfect life on planet Earth. That’s why The Snap never occurred. Because he never failed. And Peter never aged because he’s been wanting to reunite with the Peter Parker that he lost so long ago. And the house isn’t the house he bought from a grieving family. He bought it from a nice family who decided to retire to the city after their kids went off to college. And he bought the dining table he always wanted and built the perfect game room and set up a room for Harley and Peter so they could visit on the weekends after making their families proud at MIT. The Keeners and Aunt May and the Starks and him. They’re family.

Tony has a family, a loving family that he trusts to visit whenever they can because they want to and make the time to see him. Peter, Harley, Rhodey, Happy, Bruce, Fury, Clint, Natasha, Steve. Hell, even Thor visits.

Tony Stark still died saving the people he loved and he was rewarded for his actions by being sent to this personal heaven of his because he deserves it. Deserves the love and happiness a hero deserves.

This is Tony’s happy ending, isn’t it?

He feels a tear or two run down his cheeks, but they’re not tears of sadness, because this is the sign that he really did the right thing. He’s proud of himself. For once. He did a good job, didn’t he? This is a little slice of heaven perfectly crafted for Tony Stark because he saved the day and he’s a hero. And he shouldn’t let this heaven go to waste, should he?

Tony wipes the tears from his face and takes a breath to collect himself. He walks around the game room and takes it in another time, stopping at the game cabinet. He opens the door and looks through all of the games he loves and loves to play with the rest of his family upstairs. Speaking of, he should get going and start the game with them. He was getting so caught up in this overwhelming feeling of satisfaction and bliss that he almost missed the fact that everyone else is waiting for him upstairs. So, he closes the closet door.

There’s something else he almost misses, but Tony spots the little piece out from the corner of his eye. Embedded in the carpet is a small silver gauntlet the size of a penny. Tony smiles and picks the piece up. He flips it over in his palm and notices the thing looks as good as new. But he already knows he won’t be restoring it to its rightful place. Instead, he pockets the piece with no intention of telling the others. He’s already fixed this problem with a post-it note and a hug and an “it’s not the end of the world”. Even if it isn’t the most ideal outcome and he’s sacrificing a perfect piece, the future is still bright.

With that thought, Tony turns back, floats up the stairs, and joins his family for a little game of Monopoly.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, my lovelies!
> 
>  
> 
> Yes, I made myself cry as I was writing this thing too. So you’re welcome.
> 
> EndGame was satisfying until Tony died without a smile on his face. It was never confirmed that he accepted his sacrificial decision. He never wanted to sacrifice himself, of course, but I WANTED HIM TO AT LEAST DIE HAPPY and I never got that happy ending, nor did he.
> 
> Tony Stark. Iron Man. The beginning of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The OG. Never. Got. A. Canonic. Happy. Ending. For. Himself!
> 
> And fix-its usually suck so this is my version of a "fix-it" without actually trashing the already pretty (nearly) satisfying ending.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed!
> 
> Here’s a Pic of a Napkin Folded into a Bunny:  
> https://assets.marthastewart.com/styles/wmax-520-highdpi/d15/mml304_0410_q13/mml304_0410_q13_vert.jpg?itok=s5wiBOM7  
> How to Fold Your Own Bunny Napkin:  
> https://www.marthastewart.com/908072/bunny-fold-napkins
> 
> (Side Note: There are in fact two versions of an Avengers Monopoly, but one’s the newer version with all the EndGame characters and the other is complete trash so you can look it up yourself. My version does not exist. Sorry not sorry. Monopoly should hire me.)
> 
> Thank you for reading! If you'd like to read more of my stuff, feel free to check it out and have a wonderful, satisfying day.
> 
> -FabulousWeirdo


End file.
